Pop-up irrigation rotor sprinklers are known in the art and are especially useful where it is desired that they be placed in the ground so that they are at ground level when not in use. In a typical pop-up rotor sprinkler, a tubular riser is mounted within a generally cylindrical upright sprinkler housing or case having an open upper end. A spray head carrying one or more spray nozzles is mounted at an upper end of the riser and supports a housing cap or cover to close the housing when the sprinkler is not in operation.
In a normal inoperative position, the spray head and riser are spring-retracted into the sprinkler case so that they are below ground level. However, when water under pressure is supplied to the sprinkler case, the riser is extended upwardly to shift the spray head to an elevated spraying position spaced above the sprinkler case and the ground. The water under pressure flows through a vertically oriented passage in the riser to the spray head which includes one or more appropriately shaped spray nozzles for projecting one or more streams of water radially outwardly over a surrounding terrain area and vegetation.
In many pop-up sprinklers, a rotary drive mechanism is provided within the sprinkler case for rotatably driving the spray head through continuous full circle revolutions, or alternately, back and forth within a predetermined part-circle path, to sweep the projected water stream over a selected target terrain area. In one known design, the rotary drive mechanism comprises a water-driven turbine which is driven by the pressurized water supplied to the sprinkler case. This turbine rotatably drives a speed reduction gear drive transmission coupled in turn to the rotary mounted spray head. In addition, adjustable means are normally provided to cause spay head rotation to reverse upon reaching a predetermined, part-circle path of motion, or to achieve continuous, full-circle rotation, if desired.
While these sprinklers generally provide reliable service, from time to time they can malfunction due to the wearing of parts or to debris entering the units thereby obstructing or clogging their interior components. Malfunctions can include a failure of the riser to extend upwardly, or a failure to rotate at the proper speed or direction. It is therefore necessary for an operator to directly observe the sprinklers when they are in operation to ensure that they are in proper working order.
For irrigation systems installed in large facilities, such as for example, golf courses, this direct observation by a user often requires that he or she take the time to travel throughout the entire facility to observe the operation of a plurality of sprinklers. What would be desirable, therefore, is an improved irrigation device that provides some automatic indication and verification of proper sprinkler operation.